


Ride or Die

by WandaHart



Category: Guns N' Roses
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Male Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-10 11:36:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19905082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WandaHart/pseuds/WandaHart
Summary: Steven gets jealous and hurt when Slash starts hanging out with Axl more.





	Ride or Die

When the band first got together, Steven was ecstatic. Meeting Axl and Izzy, having their first jam sessions, writing together, playing their first gig- it was magical. Steven had practically begged Slash, his best friend since childhood, to give it a shot. Slash had been apprehensive at first. He really didn't want to deal with another flop of a band. But, Steven had persisted and Slash had relented and, so, Guns N' Roses was born. 

Now, Steven was starting to regret all those hours he spent talking Slash into giving this band a chance. He groaned internally as his train of self deprecation was interrupted by yet another round of giggles. Slash and Axl were sat across from him on the worn-out love seat talking about god knows what at this point. 

"You're so stupid," Axl huffed out between giggles. It was probably the weed Slash had shared with him earlier making him this giddy.

"Oh, I'm stupid? Your'e the one that started it!" Slash objected, smiling fondly at the temperamental ginger.

"Would you two shut the fuck up? Me and Duff are trying to watch," Izzy grunted from the floor.

Steven glanced down at the guitarist who had kindly offered to sit on the floor with Duff as they watched the movie. Steven was left with the moth-eaten recliner they had found on the curb a block over from their house. He would rather be siting with his best friend. Unfortunately Axl and Slash had called dibs on the couch when the suggestion of watching a movie was brought up.

"This movie sucks anyways," Axl said, throwing a piece of popcorn towards Izzy's head. Izzy dodged it lazily. "Why can't we watch something else?"

"Yeah, it sucks. I'm bored," Slash echoed.

Steven's frown deepened. He and Slash watched this movie all the time when they were younger. When they were fifteen, they snuck into the theater one night to see it and it had been a go-to movie ever since for the both of them. Steven glared at Axl as he made fun of one of characters on the screen. Steven was done with Axl pretending he was best friends with Slash. _He_ was best friends with Slash and that was not going to change.

"Just shut up Axl! It's a good movie!" Steven shouted across the living room, angrily.

All eyes turned to him. Even Duff, who Steven thought had fallen asleep, lifted his head to stare at the drummer.

"What's your problem?" Slash fired back at the blonde.

"I don't have a problem! You do," Steven screeched back, becoming more upset and hurt. "You're acting like a dick."

"Oh, please," Axl interjected, "you're the one screaming at us for having fun. You're just angry cause no one likes the movie you picked out."

"I like it," Duff piped out. Everyone ignored him.

Steven could his face getting hot with anger and his throat getting tight with emotion. 

"Fuck off," Steven said, voice cracking. 

He stood up and marched out of the room and up the stairs into his bedroom. He made sure to slam the door loud enough for everyone to hear and buried himself in the mass of blankets and sheets on his bed. He furiously wiped away the tears that managed to escape from his eyes and quietly cursed both Axl and Slash. Before he knew it, he was drifting off to sleep.

****

Steven woke up halfway through the next afternoon and scowled at the memory of the night before. He rolled out of bed groggily and began his descent downstairs. He could hear voices coming from the kitchen and prepared himself to talk to Slash about the previous night. He made his way into the room slowly and grabbed himself a glass of water from the tap. Seated at the kitchen table was Slash and Duff. Steven shot them both a quick smile as he grabbed a seat next to Duff. Slash flashed Steve a hesitant smile in return while Duff simply nodded as he took a gulp of his coffee.

"Hey, um, Stevie," Slash started, "do you wanna go out tonight? We could check out that new bar?"

"Yes," Steven gushed out with a smile, "that sounds great."

And just like that, all was right again. It was back to the two of them. Steven and Slash. Slash and Steven. The way it should be. Steven was excited to have a night out with his best friend all to himself. No Axl, plenty of alcohol, and hopefully lots of chicks at the bar. Steven was in such a good mood, he didn't even _think_ about punching Axl in the face when he complained about how loud he was being practicing on his drums.

By eight o' clock, Steven was itching to leave. He stood up from the dingy couch and made his way upstairs to find Slash and tell him to hurry the fuck up. As he approached Slash's room though, he could hear the sound of Slash and Axl talking. Steven faltered slightly but pushed open the door anyway. Slash and Axl were seated on the carpet and going over what appeared to be lyrics for new songs Axl had written.

"Hey, Stevie!" Slash greeted.

"Hey. Are you ready to go soon?" Stevie asked, feeling like he was interrupting something. 

"Go where?" Axl questioned, turning towards Slash with curiosity.

"Stevie and I are gonna head down to the Strip to check out that new bar that just opened. Do you wanna come?" Slash invited.

Stevie frowned. Axl agreed with a smile and went to his room to grab his shoes. Slash headed outside to start the car. 

Axl ran past Steven at the door, calling dibs on shotgun along the way. Steven's frown deepened as he climbed into the backseat of Slash's beat-up Chevy. The drive didn't take long, but Steven was thankful when they arrived at the club. He tried to stay positive as he followed Slash and Axl through the doors. _They're your friends_ , he reminded himself, _you're all going to have a good time_.

Boy, was he wrong. The music was surprisingly good, yes, and alcohol is alcohol, but Steven spent most of his night sitting in a booth all alone. Within twenty minutes Axl and Slash had found a pair of hot twins and left Stevie, without so much as a goodbye, to go join them at their table. Steven growled as he saw the four get up and head to the dance floor. He got another drink when he saw them all head outside for a smoke. He got up and left when he realized the Chevy was no longer in the parking lot.

****

Steven arrived back at the hell house he next afternoon. He had walked up and down the strip for a few minutes looking for some way to get home. He ended up running into a few girls that recognized him from some shows and they were happy to let him crash at their apartment for the night. The following day, one of the girls had been so kind as to drop him off near his neighborhood on her way to work.

When Steven marched into the house, he went straight up to Slash's room. He slammed the door open and walked right on in. 

"Dude!" Slash yelled at the intrusion. 

One of the twins from last night lifted her head up from Slash's bed with a confused look on her face. Steven pointed to her.

"Get up, get dressed, and leave," he ordered.

The girl rolled her eyes but did as he said. She turned around as she passed through the door.

"Bye, Slash. Call me," she called out with a wave.

"Yeah, whatever," Slash responded lazily. He now focused his attention on Steven. "What's your problem?"

"You left me last night at the bar! I had to stay with some random chicks!" Steven yelled.

"How exactly is that a problem?" Slash countered with a smirk.

"Because- ugh!" Steven grew more frustrated. "You and Axl left to hang out with some twins and I was alone."

"You just said you were with some girls! Besides there were only two of them! What were we supposed to do? Find triplets?" Slash laughed at this.

Slash didn't understand. Yeah, he shouldn't have left Steven without saying so, but he was drunk. And horny. It had happened before and Steven hadn't made such a big deal about it.

"You don't understand," Steven said, growing quieter. "You're always hanging out with Axl now. You always wanna do stuff with him and not me anymore. I'm your best friend." Steven paused. "Or at least I used to be. Not Axl."

Slash suddenly felt bad. Steven looked like someone had shot his puppy. Slash sat up straighter in bed before speaking.

"Steven, you know you'll always be my best friend," he said, choosing his words carefully. "Just because I'm hanging out with Axl more doesn't mean I like you less than him. You guys are both my friends."

"It doesn't seem like it," Steven responded. Slash's words did mean a lot, but a part of him believed Slash was only saying this to make him feel better. That he didn't really mean it.

"Steven, listen to me" Slash started, " you're the only one isn't afraid to feed my snakes for me, the only one who knew I had a crush on Mrs. Turner in eighth grade. I've never been through the shit we've been through together with anybody else. Why? Because we're best friends. Your'e the only one I let see my horrible haircut when I was fifteen." Steven was smiling now. Slash continued on. "Remember when my grandpa died? And you took me out in your mom's car and we tried to drive all the way to Seattle? Remember when you fell and sprained your ankle and I carried you on my back for the two miles back to my place? That's because we're best friends. Ride or die. You're my brother, Stevie. Don't ever think that I could replace you, okay?"

By now, Steven was smiling from ear to ear. Without warning he skipped over to and jumped on top of Slash in a hug. 

"I knew it! I knew we were still best friends," he exclaimed with glee. 

Slash rolled his eyes. Steven was such an idiot sometimes. But he was his idiot. 

"Yeah, yeah. Now get off me. I have to get some pants on."


End file.
